


slow dancing in the dark

by milkblossoms



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Oblivious Kageyama Tobio, Pining, Song fic, discord-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:02:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkblossoms/pseuds/milkblossoms
Summary: Kageyama is stalking Oikawa's Discord status 24/7, and falls in love from there.[based on SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK by joji]
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 38
Kudos: 152





	slow dancing in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first hq work, so my apologies for any OOC-ness
> 
> the playlist for this fic is [here!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2lJeeGljlvb94ugRMPIzv3?si=lAGjd8S3SQGv-LU6wKlDIw)
> 
> listening isn't necessary for the experience, but at least listening to the first/title song helps :D

Kageyama isn’t really sure why he has a Discord account. 

Actually, he remembers why he has one; Hinata had forced him to make one for some groupchat or other. He’s just not sure why he _still_ has it. The… groupchat? server? Hinata had forced him to join was created for some schools in the prefecture to talk to each other, and with so many rivals in one place, you’d think Kageyama would be snooping around trying to pick up some techniques.

But no, he could really not care any less. Half the time the chat is just filled with Hinata, Tanaka, and Nishinoya picking insane arguments with people from other teams. Yeah, he doesn’t care for those dumbass antics, or Discord at all.

It seems fate is destined to crush all of Kageyama’s resolutions.

It’s evening already, light from the setting sun slanting through his bedroom window, and his phone vibrates from a Discord notification. Kageyama curses to himself; he had sworn he had turned all of his alerts off, what was this? He reads through the notification regardless of how much he detests this dumb app.

**PrettiestSetter sent you a friend request.**

Kageyama stared down at his phone in puzzlement as he opened the app. A friend request? From someone he assumed could really only be Oikawa? Well, it was obvious it was him, the profile picture was one of his signature peace-sign selfies, and the username was just cocky enough to only belong to Oikawa’s enormous ego.

It should be noted, he thinks, that his own profile picture is a second-rate picture of a stray cat he saw on the side of the road once. He was too scared to get any closer to it and take a better picture.

His thumb hovered over the accept button, internally fighting himself on whether or not this was considered betraying his team, before he finally decided there was no harm. When Oikawa’s smiling face appears in his friends list, that’s when he finally notices it. The bubble on his profile is green, and in small text under his name, his status reads 

**PrettiestSetter -**

**kiss me to** **_Slow Dancing in the Dark_ **

And Kageyama isn’t really sure what that means, because half of the status is in English and he is too tired to recall English lessons he ignores. His mind wanders and suddenly he’s really curious about kissing Oikawa-san and, well, that won’t do. He quickly pulls out some math assignment he knows he won’t understand and wonders what’s for dinner as he stares at the paper, trying his best to get the thought out of his mind.

It seems he goes through countless distractions (volleyball videos, more homework he barely grasps, 2 milk boxes and a magazine), and he still can’t stop thinking about that stupid status. It gets to the point where he climbs out of his bed in the middle of falling asleep that night to sit in front of his laptop, because he was almost sure his dream was going to be something about Oikawa if he didn’t resolve this issue.

He barely wants to see Oikawa now, let alone _kiss_ him, he thinks, though somewhere in the back of his brain he can tell he’s lying to himself.

As his eyes adjust to the brightness of his laptop, he opens the Discord website, copies and pastes the English text from Oikawa’s status, and enters it into the search bar of a new tab. He clicks the first result, a link to a Youtube video. 

And oh, it’s Western music, which explains the English. 

The song is unique, and the melody floats around in his head. He goes to lie down because this song seems to be calming enough that he doesn’t have to pay much attention to it. He catches some of the English words the singer says, but the slight mumble does nothing to help his understanding and everything to make him more sleepy.

He stares up at the ceiling, half-understanding why Oikawa would want to kiss to this song. Sure, it’s calming, but he’s not really sure what else is so special about it. To be fair, Kageyama knows nothing about kissing.

His laptop is casting a blue and white light in the sides of his vision, and suddenly the chorus hits, and Kageyama feels like he is falling endlessly and flying halfway to space. 

He feels hyperaware of his surroundings, suddenly noticing moonlight and laptop glow and all the shadows of the objects on his desk. There’s a pit in his stomach as he stares, wide-eyed, at his walls, feeling swept up in something he can’t quite process, an emotion he’s not sure of, and some romance so bittersweet.

Then the song ends abruptly, and Kageyama foolishly thinks he is no longer so concentrated on Oikawa, or kissing him, and he finally shuts his eyes to sleep. He is awake just long enough to sense the blue light soften, seemingly melting himself as well. 

When he dreams, it’s of smiling lips pressed to his, of a mouth that calls him Tobio-chan.

**Finished Playing: Joji - SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK**

\- ♫ -

Kageyama finds himself listening to the song more often than he would like to admit. It’s because it soothes him, it’s because it makes him feel like he’s floating away just long enough to put him to sleep during late nights, he thinks to himself. He denies himself every notion that it’s only so calming because of how much comfort he takes in the thought of Oikawa loving this song as much as Kageyama does.

And it’s definitely not because the song is perfect for fantasizing about Oikawa and kissing him and what could’ve been.

What could have been?

Another song comes on after the object of his new obsession, by the same artist. He feels equally fuzzy from the mellow piano intro and the mumbled English voice track of the new song as he does when he listens to its predecessor.

The fuzziness glues his eyes to the ceiling and fastens his mind to Oikawa.

He remembers confessing the day Oikawa graduated from Kitagawa, being too young to understand the difference between admiration and real love. He remembers the snarky and sincere laugh Oikawa had laughed, and the hand which petted his hair softly, and his eyes glowing brighter than the sun shining down on them.

“I’ll wait for you in highschool, okay Tobio?” 

And his breath was taken away at the absence of the honorific, and it was stolen from him again as Oikawa leaned down and stole a kiss from his cheek. He started to speak again, but his name was called from somewhere in the distance and he turned to move away. 

“Sorry Tobio-chan! ...Don’t forget me, okay?”

Then he was gone.

And in his absence, Kageyama’s feelings only grew, and Oikawa’s intermittent messages fueled it further, burning brightly in his heart. Until his third year of middle school, when everything seemed to dive into the deep end.

He had tried so hard to be like him. Oikawa probably hates him because he failed.

He’s certain Oikawa knows of his rise, fall, crash, and burn, and he’s almost certain that’s why Kageyama had heard he had gotten a girlfriend a few weeks after Kitagawa lost that match and why his messages slowed to a stop. If not volleyball, there was really nothing else that made him stand out. He was simple, and Oikawa was anything but.

Kageyama wonders if Oikawa still remembers every second they spent together on his last day in Kitagawa in the stunning, arresting clarity he does. Kageyama thinks he remembers too much. 

He isn’t sure whether the emotions that bubble under his skin are hatred, admiration, or love of any kind. He’s almost sure it can’t be the last one. Kageyama sighs; he doesn't have the time to think about that anymore.

**Finished Playing: Joji - Will He**

\- ♫ -

Kageyama spends the next few days listening to those two songs on repeat and in succession before he is itching for new music, like the way his fingers absent-mindedly fidget during days without practice.

It takes him a couple of days to realize that he could most likely find more music Oikawa enjoys by checking his Discord status again.

All seems to be a lost cause, because Oikawa’s status is blank, except for a script that says

**PrettiestSetter -**

**Listening to Spotify**

Kageyama is lucky his persistence wins over his simple minded-ness, otherwise he would have closed the app without a second thought instead of clicking around haphazardly to find something.

Clicking some button or other shows Kageyama a certain song, scrolling through the progress bar. He figures Oikawa is probably listening to this song, another Western piece called “ _still feel._ ”

He pulls the YouTube video up onto his laptop, and stays to watch it this time. Some men dance on the screen for the music video, and the music is catchy enough that he can’t help but stand up and awkwardly sway his body and walk around his room. The music seems to cue motion.

He wonders if Oikawa dances in his room, too, and imagines him as one of the dancers in the videos. He’d look idiotic, he thinks, and heat rises to his cheeks.

Kageyama enjoys this song just enough to look up the lyrics in Japanese. It’s almost as if he can feel Oikawa in the lyrics. And it’s almost no wonder he likes it so much, because there are copious references to random space terms.

_Orbit, gravity, floating in outer space,_ he repeats to himself.

He remembers how much Oikawa had liked everything about the outer reaches of the sky. Sometimes, when the two would stay late for extra practice and Kageyama was last out of the locker room, he would catch Oikawa staring upwards at the glimmering night.

He’d always laugh like he was embarrassed at being caught, rushing to lock the gym and bid Kageyama a teasingly saccharine good night.

But this one time, on a particularly cloudless night, Oikawa had taken his hand and guided it along some constellations. Kageyama didn’t really understand at the time and was slightly unsure which stars Oikawa was pointing him towards, but Oikawa had told him they were his favorite constellations, with such softness in his voice and care in his hands Kageyama was never familiar with. 

Kageyama can still point out the shapes of Draco, Ursa Major, and Cancer.

He thinks about what it would be like to be kissed under brilliant stars.

He thinks Cancer is his favorite constellation. He hopes the stars like him, too.

**Finished Playing: half•alive - still feel.**

\- ♫ -

It’s an early fall evening, a little before the sun has started to set. Kageyama is shopping for groceries from his mother’s favorite store. It’s a little out of the way from his house, but he doesn’t mind so much. The walk was long, but he put his earbuds in and played some new songs he managed to thrift from Oikawa’s Discord status.

He’s bee-lining through the aisles, pausing every so often to take a look at the grocery list his mother had sent him.

“Hm? Tobio-chan?”

Kageyama stiffens. It can’t be. He knows this voice, hates it maybe, and it’s been replaying in his head for the better part of the month. Oikawa drifts down the aisle, towards him.

“Oikawa-san,” he turns to nod curtly. He’s in his practice gear, but he still looks so effortlessly put together. Kageyama had always hated that; couldn’t he just stop trying so hard?

“Ehh? No “hello” or “I love you” for your favorite senpai? Tch. Brat.” 

Kageyama is suddenly very aware of how close Oikawa’s face is in his peripherals. He stares intensely at packets of soba noodles in front of him, dead set on burning holes through the plastic. He wants to leave.

Ah, a new song begins to play on his phone. Of course it’s _Slow Dancing in the Dark_. What else would it be, since the universe seems intent on setting Kageyama’s world on fire today. Every fantasy and daydream he had created to this song seems so terribly real now.

“Ohh, listening to music, Tobio-chan? Pretending you can’t hear me?” Oikawa reaches for the free earbud dangling against Kageyama’s chest. Kageyama resists the urge to swerve away from his hand.

“I’ll probably hate your music taste anyway, but I suppose it couldn’t hurt to see what a genius listens to. Maybe it’ll make me smarter,” he sneers.

He puts the earbud in with his slender fingers, manicured and stupidly perfect, and maybe better than Kageyama’s could ever be.

Oikawa seemed surprised at first, and Kageyama can’t really blame him. 

He laughs, awkwardly, almost, as they stand next to each other in an empty grocery store aisle, music pouring through Kageyama’s cheap earbuds and eyes staring at soba noodles. 

“I didn’t think you would like this kind of music. This is one of my favorite songs right now,” Oikawa takes a package off the shelf and turns it around in his hand, listening to the dull noise of soba shifting against plastic. “It makes me sad, actually, that you like this song too. Since you’re stupid and all.”

Oikawa throws a sideways glance at him, lips smiling around his words. Those lips seem familiar for some reason. 

“Sorry, let me skip it, then.” His hands shake.

The older opens his mouth to protest, but it dies on his lips when the next song comes on. He seems to recognize it, too, and well, Kageyama _knows_ he does, because he stole it right off of his Spotify. He hopes Oikawa doesn’t notice.

They stand there quietly again, and Kageyama has to fight every urge he has to move closer, lay his head on Oikawa’s shoulder, and stare at his stupid, perfect face. He hates Oikawa for making him feel this way.

Oikawa, well... His eyes have drifted closed, like he’s hearing this song for the first time, swaying in place and humming softly to himself. Kageyama’s eyes search his face. He had never really forgotten what it had looked like; it’s the same as always, but somehow even more foolishly handsome. _Yes, he’s a fool_ , Kageyama thinks.

The song ends softly and simply, and Oikawa is opening his eyes to stare right into Kageyama’s. It’s a miracle he doesn’t die right on the spot. His left earbud thumps against his chest as Oikawa lets go of it.

“I’m pleased that my adorably useless kouhai isn’t useless in all things. Your music taste might just be the best part about you!”

Kageyama huffs, ready to make some retort about how he isn’t useless and how this isn’t really _his_ music taste.

Oikawa interrupts him with a chuckle, then flourishes his arms like he’s throwing back a cape. “I, your gracefully magnanimous senpai, Oikawa Tooru, #1 setter in Miyagi, will reward you. Do you like ice pops?”

Oikawa laughs brightly again and Kageyama can’t help but let his disdain for that statement melt away. He’s halfway between annoyance and being swallowed whole by the mysterious pit forming in his stomach.

He suddenly lights up, “Say, are you done with your shopping, Tobio-chan? I can help you out!” 

As much as Kageyama wants to resist and run away and go into hiding from Oikawa for the next 15 years, he is very much lost in this grocery store.

Kageyama shamefully hands him the list, and he follows him around the aisles, carrying a basket that Oikawa periodically tosses things into.

“No milk on this list? Has so much changed about my Tobio-chan?” Oikawa’s eyebrows seem to furrow in genuine concern. 

“No, it’s just. We, well uh. We have... Milk at home already, Oikawa-san,” Kageyama stumbles over his words. The gods should kill him right in this spot, here at aisle 7, looking for the sesame oil and soy sauce. _His_ Tobio-chan.

The debacle finally, miraculously ends, and they reach the register after digging through the icebox for their treats.

They pay for their baskets, and part ways at the doors of the grocery store, mango ice pops both in their right hands. 

“Hope I never see you again, Tobio-chan!” Oikawa laughs to himself as he walks in the other direction, brown hair glinting golden in the sunset.

The walk home is long, but Kageyama plays his stolen music and thinks of idiotically good-looking faces. When he arrives, he is laden with grocery gifts, a finished popsicle stick, and a knot in his stomach. 

He’s dazed and confused as he listens to the melodies flooding from his earbuds. He thought being with Hinata was tiring. So what the hell is this?

**Finished Playing: Jiwoo - Greed**

\- ♫ -

Kageyama is annoyed. There’s… something, some feeling in his stomach every time he thinks of Oikawa. He’s not sure what it is, or why it’s there. He’s annoyed by the feeling. He’s annoyed at Oikawa.

He’s not sure why his own body is suddenly so confusing to him. It’s annoying. Usually he knows exactly what’s wrong or why he’s off his game. This is so annoying.

**Finished Playing: Joyce Manor - Constant Headache**

\- ♫ -

Every other moment of Kageyama's day is spent thinking about Oikawa in the grocery store. Oikawa had looked so dumb, closing his eyes and swaying in place in the middle of the noodle aisle. 

Kageyama is sure that he himself had acted even more moronically. He thinks about how Oikawa had made him feel so foolish and clumsy at the time. He hates feeling like this. Like someone had removed his stomach and replaced it with jelly. Why does he feel so out of line?

He thinks that he has never thought so much in his life. His brain hurts, and it’s all Oikawa’s fault. He hates the effect Oikawa has on him.

All he thinks about is the mental replay of that day, going frame by frame, repeat after repeat.

He’s not sure why he even keeps thinking. He can’t help it. Everytime he listens to his music, or sets a volleyball, he thinks of bright smiles and sunlit hair and perfectly tended hands. He’s not sure why his thoughts always lead to blurred imaginations of kisses.

Kageyama smacks his head with his notebook. These thoughts are getting awfully insistent.

**Finished Playing: Mom Jeans - Glamorous**

\- ♫ -

Hinata invited him to the mall to buy new kneepads together, yelled at him to be on time, and of course had the nerve to show up late. He claims something or other about his sister.

Kageyama is all the sights akin to a business man late for work. He’s tapping his foot, checking his watch, and looking around him every few seconds.

His earbuds are his only savior today, it seems. He pops them in, queues up what is becoming his set of most played songs, and checks his texts.

**Dumbass - _now_**

You can walk around or something while you wait!! Natsu is being very difficult today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kageyama takes the suggestion and walks around the mall, not paying so much attention to where he is as to the music playing in the space between his ears.

“Tobio-chan? Again?”

Kageyama turns around and it's, of course, Oikawa. He bows slightly, “Oikawa-san.”

“The gods must surely hate me if they really made me see you for the second time this month,” Oikawa scowls down on him. He missed that face, he thinks for a split second. Kageyama sneers back.

“So... what might you be doing here?” 

That’s a ridiculously stupid question, he thinks. He says as much, “What else would I be doing here?”

Oikawa smiles like there’s a secret he’s not telling Kageyama. Why does Oikawa always look good when he smiles and why can’t _he_ manage to do it? 

  
“I’m not sure, Tobio-chan, why are you at the Sanrio store? I didn’t know you liked this stuff.” 

Finally, for once, Kageyama thinks to look where he is. Stuffed toys and stationary line the display racks. 

Oikawa gasps theatrically, “My my, does my Tobio-chan have a girlfriend? Are you buying her a gift?”

Kageyama starts blushing almost immediately, flusteredly stammering out denials and protests. Oikawa laughs obnoxiously. It almost pains him how annoyingly good he can look.

“Ehh? No girlfriend? To be fair, even for how adorable you are, you’re as dense as a rock,” Oikawa laughs to himself. “Has anyone ever even confessed to you? Your scowl must drive everyone away.” 

Kageyama is wearing the scowl as they speak. “Yes, actually. It’s happened 3 times already.” Though Kageyama isn’t sure why it’s happened, nor is he interested at all.

Oikawa’s face morphs into something weird and twisted. “Oh,” is all he manages. Kageyama leaves it there. He has no patience to read Oikawa, who he never can figure out anyway.

“Oikawa-san, don’t you have a girlfriend, too?” he asks, and _girlfriend_ tastes bitter in the back of his throat. 

“It doesn’t matter whether or not I have one. It doesn’t concern you.” He turns his head up looking more like a pretentious king than ever. “Why are you here again?”

Kageyama explains the situation, liberally using the word “dumbass” in his description. 

“So you randomly wandered in here and somehow managed to find your favorite senpai? Maybe I’ll treat you again…”

“Eh? Why?!”

“It’s so sweet that your feet lead you here to me without you even thinking! It’s like …” he sighs, a happy noise. “Do you still love me, Tobio-chan?”

The question catches him off guard. He’s blushing and stuttering and tripping over his words again. His eyes meet Oikawa’s and there’s a hint of fondness in the gaze, however teasing his tone of voice had been.

Oikawa, still staring down at him almost affectionately, mercifully decides to put Kageyama out of his misery. He grabs Kageyama by the wrist and leads him to the part of the store with the phone charms.

Kageyama stands there, confused, watching Oikawa’s face twist in thought, surveying the rack in front of him. 

He picks two of the same one, drags Kageyama back across the store to the register, and buys both of them with him at his side.

Kageyama is pulled out of the store into the open space by the entrance. He finally thinks to ask, “What are those for?” pointing at the small plastic bag Oikawa’s purchase had come in.

“They’re phone charms, Tobio-chan. For us. We’re going to match, okay?” Oikawa smiles and sticks his tongue out, holding a peace sign up to Kageyama’s eyes. Kageyama fakes a scowl.

He’s not sure what the implication of matching phone charms is, but he goes along with it anyway. Fighting Oikawa over this seems like a crime, what with the way his eyes are lit up and he smiles around his words.

“Give me your phone. I’ll put it on for you.” 

He hands his phone over to Oikawa, his earbud cable still attached. Oikawa reaches out, seemingly going to touch Kageyama’s cheek, but instead he snatches the earbud out of his ear and places it in his own.

Kageyama wishes he had done the other action.

Oikawa fumbles with the bag of phone charms. He drops the bag on the floor twice, causing Kageyama to move even closer to Oikawa to prevent the earbuds from falling from their places.

Their shoulders are touching, and the pit lingering in Kageyama’s stomach gets deeper. The current song fades to an end, and no song is queued up after it. They stand in silence for a few moments, while Oikawa takes the tags off of the trinkets.

“We have pretty similar music tastes, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa smiles faintly. “I found this new song I really like. Can I play it for you?” He hands the phone back to Kageyama to unlock it, and promptly queues up a new melody.

It’s light and happy and Oikawa hums along to more English words Kageyama isn’t quite processing at the moment. All he can think of is how carefree the song feels and how badly he wants to live in this small atmosphere they have created forever.

Oikawa hands him his phone back, charm attached, as he works on his own phone. Kageyama stares at the charm, the pit in his stomach threatening to eat him alive.

The charm is a crown, simple and silver, identical to the one Oikawa is currently working with. A crown had always been an insult, a shame, a constant reminder of hatred and loathing. To be constantly reminded of it by a phone charm seems to be a bad idea.

But then his eyes drift over to Oikawa again, and he thinks of how Hinata had always called him the Great King. His mouth is parted and his tongue peaks out, like he’s concentrating much harder than he should be. His foot taps along to the beat of the music.

Kageyama thinks, absentmindedly, that he doesn’t so much mind being a king, as long as Oikawa is his royal pair.

“And now we match, Tobio!” Oikawa sticks his phone directly in front of his eyes, smiling widely and victoriously. Kageyama’s stomach is a void full of jelly for a number of reasons. 

His phone buzzes in his hand, a text message from Hinata claiming he was finally here.

“Thank you, Oikawa-san,” he bows to him, struggling and feeling like he should say something more. “I’ll be leaving now… Hinata is. Here…” he hesitates over every word, not quite ready to leave at the moment.

Oikawa rustles his hair and pushes him away. “Awkward dork. One of these days, I’ll teach you people skills instead of my serve.”

Kageyama walks away hastily, putting the song Oikawa had queued on repeat, and adding it to his collection.

**Finished Playing: Rex Orange County - Loving Is Easy**

\- ♫ -

He has a playlist dedicated to Oikawa and his songs now. It’s awfully incriminating for someone who swears he hates the Great King.

The songs on the playlist always make him feel warm inside, and each track is an intimate affair, like a soft whisper only he hears. It really is awfully incriminating.

Kageyama often lays awake at night now. His sleep schedule is deteriorating and the space between his ears is filled with Oikawa. It’s filled with love songs. So terribly incriminating.

When “ _Don’t Be A Fool_ ” plays, he thinks of soft grass, and small picnics in parks, and bright blue water, and love.

When “ _Maple Syrup_ ” plays, he thinks of cars on sunset roads, and sprints on gravelly trails, and burnt out porch lights, and love.

When “ _Fingers Crossed_ ” plays, he thinks of early afternoon sun, and dancing without a care, and running through neighborhoods he doesn’t know, and love.

When “ _Comme des Garçons_ ” plays, he thinks of the slow bustle of the train station late at night, and street lights flickering on familiar roads, and warm home cooked meals after starving, and love.

Why does he think of love so often? Why do the scenarios he creates around the songs always end in soft kisses? Kageyama doesn’t even know what a kiss should feel like. Everytime he does think of what it might be like, he is always imagining Oikawa’s mouth.

Which is extremely incriminating. But, Kageyama reasons to himself, he only thinks of Oikawa because he’s the only person he knows that has definitely kissed people. Yes.

His stomach is doing the annoying thing again. He flops face first onto the bed.

**Finished Playing: Playlist - “** **_From Oikawa-san_ ** **”**

\- ♫ -

Theoretically, Kageyama knows he’s in love at this point.

Well, he only found out when Hinata declared how all of his thoughts were about Yachi most days, and how badly he would like to hold her hand, and how that was how he was sure he had a crush on her.

It hit Kageyama like a bolt of lightning.

In love… with Oikawa? He’s had this realization before, when he was too naive to realize his admiration for his upperclassman wasn’t real love. And then when his feelings grew tremendously and were shot down after, he was sure he had buried them away and left no trace.

Could simply listening to a few songs and two chance interactions be enough to rekindle these feelings? He’s not even sure if the fire went out in the first place.

He considers phone charms, mangoes, and annoying nicknames.

Theoretically, Kageyama knows these feelings must be more than idolization now.

It’s more than his attention-seeking, praise-depraved motives now. Oikawa is more human than ever in his eyes.

He’s teasing and kind, a little clumsy but daring. He’s a blade honed sharper than Kageyama had seen in middle school.

He’s shoulders Kageyama wants to sleep on, a chest he wants to lean against, and lips he wants to kiss.

Kageyama suddenly realizes why his playlist conjures images of lips pressed to his.

Theoretically, Kageyama knows Oikawa is all he wants now.

But logistically, he’s not sure what to do from here.

**Finished Playing: Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want**

\- ♫ -

It’s a day without practice and Kageyama feels stupid. Rain is pouring down outside and he conveniently forgot his umbrella at home today. He swears silently to himself as he stares out of his classroom window, dreading the walk home.

He holds his jacket over his head, getting ready to sprint the way home. He navigates slowly through the crowded courtyard as students slowly meander to the front gate.

_Hurry up,_ he thinks, fidgeting to book it home because his jacket is soaked through already.

Kageyama is finally through the school gates and--

“Ya-hoo! Tobio-chan!”

He freezes, feeling like a deer caught in headlights. His soaked jacket presses against his head. Kageyama turns his gaze and there is Oikawa, in his school uniform and smirking from under his navy blue umbrella.

Oikawa is gathering attention, and why wouldn’t he be? He’s tall, attractive, from another school, and is calling for the attention of an absolute mess while he looks like a god.

He closes the distance between them, sheltering Kageyama under the umbrella.

“Oikawa-san,” he bows. “What are you doing here? How did you get out of class already?”

“What is your dumbass doing without an umbrella on the rainiest day of this term?” Oikawa questions back.

Kageyama glares with the intensity of the flooding rain.

“Hey, hey, I’m just teasing! I just thought I could pick you up from school and we could hang out or something, is that such a crime?”

And Kageyama wants to answer with “yes” because it _is_ such a crime for Oikawa to look the way he does and to seek him out for such a sappy proclamation and for him to make Kageyama’s heartbeat 5 times faster.

“What did you want to do, Oikawa-san?” Kageyama asks, trying to keep his voice even and face unassuming. He has nothing better to do.

“Well, uhh,” Oikawa hesitates, and Kageyama thinks this is one of the only times he’s ever seen him nervous, “We could… hang out in my room and listen to some music? I think we have pretty similar tastes so I’d like to show you some songs I like,” he rushes out.

Kageyama simply nods, inverbally indicating for Oikawa to lead the way, because he’s sure if he speaks he would mess up terribly.

“Speaking of music,” Oikawa speaks as they move further from the school, “Where are your earbuds? You look weird without them.” 

“They’re in my bag,” he mutters, pulling his phone out and plugging in the cable. The phone charm dangles beside his fingers. He offers one of the earbuds to Oikawa and queues up his favorite and only playlist.

He suddenly becomes very scared that Oikawa will realize he stole all of these songs from stalking his Discord activity, however unlikely it is that he finds out.

His teeth chatter and his shoulders shake, though from nerves or the cold he isn’t sure. In the next moment, Oikawa is taking off his scarf and wrapping it around Kageyama’s neck. Warmth lingers in the cloth and the scent of Oikawa’s cologne is overwhelming.

Kageyama’s too distracted by the scarf to pay proper attention to his surroundings; he takes a left when Oikawa goes right, and he only notices when the rain starts to drizzle down on him again.

“Wrong way, Tobio-chan.” Oikawa takes his hand into his own and pulls him back under the umbrella. He doesn’t let go.

Kageyama is being bombarded on all fronts and Oikawa is flooding all his senses. In his ears, the music playing conjures images of him. The scent of his scarf is intoxicating. His eyes drink in every inch of the older’s face. Their hands are touching, clammy and cold but not uncomfortable at all. 

Which sense is he missing?

Oh yes, taste.

Kageyama swallows hard and tries not to think of the implications of _tasting_ Oikawa. A blush rises to his cheeks anyway.

The rest of the walk is uneventful, except for the fact that he feels like he’s electrified every time their shoulders touch, or that his head starts swimming every time he inhales against the scarf.

Arriving at the Oikawa family home is weirdly nostalgic. He’s never been here, but the street seems familiar and the gate seems welcoming.

It’s unsurprisingly much warmer inside the house than it is outside, and the house seems dark and still.

“I think my mother should be home soon,” Oikawa remarks offhandedly, leading Kageyama up the stairs and into, what he guesses, is his room.

Rain sounds against the house, drizzling lightly but coming down hard enough to be heard. The only light in the room is coming from cloud muted sunlight filtering in from the bedroom window and a strip of LED lights surrounding Oikawa’s room, glowing faint purple.

Sticky glow-in-the-dark stars are pasted to the ceiling, textbooks are stacked on the desk, and printed photos decorate the walls. The majority seem to be from highschool, Oikawa’s friend group of 4 smiling and snickering in every shot; he sees himself in a picture from middle school. He suddenly feels like he’s intruding.

Oikawa sits on the floor, leaning against his bed frame. He pats the space beside him, gesturing for Kageyama to take a seat next to him. He shuffles over, feeling awkward in his own body.

“This is my favorite playlist,” Oikawa says, tapping through his phone. The crown-shaped charm taps against the back of his device.

Kageyama wants to respond, but the words die in his throat. Oikawa’s glowing, ethereal, purple light tinting his hair and reflecting in his eyes and Kageyama has never been good at small talk, and he undoubtedly can’t do it now.

New melodies embrace his ear, and Oikawa says the name of each track that comes on. His English accent is music sweeter than Kageyama could ever imagine.

The songs seem to melt him, and soon Kageyama is staring straight up at the ceiling, laying flat on Oikawa’s floor. He’s sure he looks stupid, and he catches the taunting gleam in Oikawa’s eyes. He hopes he never sees another day without it.

Soon, a familiar melody plays out into the room. 

_Slow Dancing in the Dark,_ a song he knows like the back of his hand. It’s far too familiar by now, because Kageyama has listened to this song every night for the past few weeks while he dreamt of kissing Oikawa. Kageyama blushes profusely.

“Y’know Tobio-chan,” Oikawa interrupts after the first chorus, “I’ve always thought this song was very romantic.”

And of course he knows, because Oikawa’s observation is without a doubt what sent him careening off the cliff that was falling in love with Oikawa Tooru.

“Me too,” he muses, unwilling to break the atmosphere with any wrong statement. “I’ve always…,” he hesitates, “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to kiss to this song.” The sentence tumbles from his lips before he can stop it. 

And suddenly Oikawa is hovering over him, looking down at him with his pupils blown. Their breaths intermingle in the small space between them and Kageyama can feel his breath hitch.

It’s immediately so difficult to breathe.

“Really?” The question is charged with the tension between them. It’s an invitation.

“Yes,” Kageyama whispers, breathless. It’s an acceptance.

Then their lips are pressed together, right when the chorus hits for the second time. And it’s a soft, sweet kiss from lips he feels he knows well. But every hazy daydream, every fleeting thought, could never compare to this.

He feels like he’s levitating, and the amethyst glow transports him to a different world.

They break apart soon after, and the song ends as abruptly as it always does.

A slow, floaty song comes on after, and Kageyama can feel Oikawa’s exhale against his lips.

“I’ve always wondered too. Every time I imagined it, I think I always thought of you,” Oikawa admits.

“I’m sorry,” Oikawa whispers. “When I learned you weren’t coming to Seijoh, I thought I did something wrong.” His voice is quieter than Kageyama has ever heard. “Tobio, did I do something wrong?”

Kageyama’s brain is short-circuiting. He addresses his words to the ceiling, “I always imagined you too.”

A beat passes.

“I thought you had gotten tired of me,” he confesses. “I heard you got a girlfriend after my last match in Kitagawa.”

“That’s… How’d you find out?” Oikawa’s mouth hangs open. “I think I only tried dating girls to distract me from how badly I missed you. I saw the last match, and I saw myself in every play you made… You looked so angry. I didn’t want-- I didn’t want to think about how badly I might have messed you up.

“I’m sorry. I had convinced myself your confession was just a misinterpretation of how you idolized me. You treated me like a god. I never thought it would actually grow into something real.

“I’m sorry, Tobio,” Oikawa whispers again.

“It’s okay, Oikawa-san,” the words tumble around on his tongue. “Can we be together now? I think I like you more than ever.”

“Yes, I’d love to be with you,” Oikawa smiles, and he pulls Kageyama to his feet. Oikawa changes the playlist on his phone, guides Kageyama’s hands to his shoulders, and places his own around Kageyama’s middle.

The song is slow, and they sway in place, feet stumbling around on Oikawa’s rug. It’s a little embarrassing with how they aren’t used to each other, but Kageyama thinks there is no place he’d rather be.

“We’re boyfriends now, right Tobio? You’re all mine.”

“I’m yours, Tooru.” 

Oikawa’s given name feels awkward in Kageyama’s mouth. But with the look Oikawa is giving him, full of affection and mirth, he feels unafraid to let it become routine.

Save for LED lights and the brightness of two smiles and two sets of bright eyes, it’s dark. 

They slow dance.

**Now Playing: Playlist - “** **_i hope he and i slow dance to these”_ **

  
  


\- ♫ -

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was literally called "self projected yearning" in my drafts for the longest time oops.
> 
> i know the whole oikage vibe is like angst and self-loathing and enemies to lovers, but i really wanted them to be sweet and sappy and in love okay sue me. also i might've self projected too much onto kageyama which is why he was all soft and romantic so if it was really OOC let me know so i can improve in the future!! (maybe i'll just hc kageyama as a romantic >:3c )
> 
> anyway i hope you enjoyed!!! comments and kudos are very very very appreciated!!! i will cherish them forever!!!


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